Pressure venting device for dry pipe sprinkler systems



March 7, 1933. TYDEN 1,900,262

PRESSURE VENTING DEVICE FOR DRY PIPE SPRINKLER SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 6, 1930 50 J9 j-vu i 57", i 91 62; a, 6 r

Patented Mar. 7, 1933 v, I

UNITED kPAT E NT EMIL TYDEN, or Beginners, PRESSURE VENTIN'G DE-VICE EORQ-DRY SPRINKLER Application filed November 6, 1930. Serial il lofldthvoti. v I The present invention relates to a dry pipe main valve 'body is indicated at A, having a sprinkler system which is equipped in the familiar form of dry pipe valve consisting apartment protected by it with a' thermo- Y in "the main valve member, 20, seating at instatically controlled ventineans arranged to ner and outer concentricseats, 21 and 22,

be operated for venting the airpressure 'ofthe the innerseatbeing the terminal of the main 5 system before the normally closed water d'iswatersupplypipe, B, and the outer seat be- =charge heads of the system are opened by the ing the upper end of the enclosing wall of heat of fire in the apartment, so that when the 'interse'at chamber, 25, which is open for said heads are thus opened, the discharge drain'a'ge andtoatmosphericpressure when 7 of water will be immediate and not preceded the main valve, 20, is seated, and held to its 6 by discharge of air fanning the fire before seat 'by the super-atmospheric pressure inthe the water arrives; the purpose of the present air pressureregi'o'n of the system, that is, beinvention is to provide means for preventing yond the main valve and extending'up to. the the discharge of Water following the vented normally closed water discharge heads, 40,

' airpressure, so that when the thermostatic of the lpipeisystem', 41, in theapartment proaction causing the venting proved to have te'cted. The valve arrangement by which the been due to conditions not in fact making fire in'terseat chamber is rendered open to j at in the apartment, or due to defective condimo'spheric pressure and to drainage when tion of the thermostatic action, the Water the main valve is seated, is seen at 60 ,requirdamage unnecessary under such circuming no description here for the purpose of stances maybe avoided. The invention conthis invention, but may be seen fully 'desists in the elements and features of construcscribed in my Patent No. 1-,689,980, dated Oction shown and describedas indicated inthe ,tobe'r 30,, 1928, v p claims. r The thermostatically controlled valve for In the 'dranvirng: venting the air pressure independently of the 5 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing opening byfire 'heatin the apartment of the a dry pipe valve and sprinkler system extendnormally closed water discharge heads, ining in a building to an apartment to be prodicated diagrammatically and as to its 'entected and therein equipped with the devices tir'ety at C, inFigure 1, is illustrated in deconstituting the invention, certain parts of tail in'Figures 2 and 3, c'omp-risinga 'chamthe dry pipe valve and thermostatically conber, 50, connected, as seen at 51 with a vent trolled vent apparatus being shown in verpipe,"5 2, leading preferably from the main tical section. i discharge andjair pressure "line, '30, which Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the extends, betweenfthemain valve, A, and the r 3 pressure venting device,the samebeiiig shown apartmei'it pipe system,- 41-, and has the 'disin association with the thermostatic, device charge heads'at "a (point, 40, as near as posby which it is controlled, the latter being insible to'the branching oif of said apartment dicated only diagrammatically or in general pipe system' from the main pressure line, 30. :outline. V A valve, 53, arranged to seat'at the dis- :1 Figure 3 is a detail section the line 3-3 charge mouth of the pipe, '52, within the Referring to the drawing The dry pipe to thefreeendof a spring bar, 59, which is on Figure 2. g chamber, 50, is carriedby a lever arm, 54,

Figure 4 is a section at the l-inei4-'4 on pivoted on an upstanding bracket, 55, with- Figure 3. in the chamber, said valve being arranged Figure 5 is a detail section at the line55 to be held by atwo-memberedtoggle or kneeis on Figure 4. y '7 v form strut device, 56, 57, whos'e'twofmembers Figure 6 is a detail section at the line 66 are :pivoted together at the knee joint, the on Figure 4, k j v Lower'member, "56 ,rbeing pivotally attached Figure 7 s adetail sectionat the line 7-7 to the valve at the pivot of the lever, 54, on Figure 4. thereto, the upper membenm, being pivoted attached at its other end to the upper end of the chamber for normally reacting inwardly at the free end at which the strut member is pivoted as stated. The right hand end of the cl1arnberr.eferring to Figure 2is closed by a flexible diaphragm, 60, at the center of which there is secured by clamping nuts, 61 and 62, and interposed clamping washers, 63, 64, a stem, 65, which within the chamber extends and is operatively connected to the pivot, 56*, which connects the two strut members at their knee joint; and at the end outside the chamber this stem has a head, arranged for cooperation of the thermostatic device hereinafter mentioned for thrusting the stem inwardly with respect to the chamher. At the side remote from the diaphragm,

60, the strut members, 56 and 57 have cooperating stoplugs, 68, 69, arranged to be in contact when the strut is flexed at its knee joint, as seen in Figures 2 and 4, so that the knife edge pivot of the two strut members to each other at their inner edge is very slightly out of alignment with the knife edge pivotsat the opposite ends of the strut members at the opposite side of alignment position from said cooperating lugs.

, Upon considering the construction as thus far described it may be recognized that upon an attendant pulling the stem, 65, outwardly until'the lugs, 68, 69, of the strut members collide, the valve, 53, will be seated, and that, due to the action ofthe spring bar, 59, on the upper end of the upper strut member, 57, and the fact that the pivots of the strut members on each other is past the point of alignment with the extreme pivots of the two strut members, the valve is locked in seated position against the pressure which may be operating in the pipe, 52' This being the normal or set-up position, the thermostatic device referred to is arranged to open the valve, 53, by releasing a weighted lever, 70, from its normal position shown in full line in Figure 2, causing it to swing down and inwardly against the head, 65 of the diaphragm stem,

65, driving the stem inwardly and snapping the knee joint of the strut members back past the alignment of the three pivots; whereupon the pressure in the pipe, 52, forces the valve, 53, open, buckling the knee joint still further to the left of the position of alignment and tending to hold the valve, '53, open as long as there is pressure enough to overcome the weight of the valve and its connections.

The thermostatic device, X, for tripping the weighted lever, 70, to operate the pressure-venting device described, is included in the subject matter of my copending application Serial No. 464,9 l-O,'filed November 10,

- 1920', and will not be here described in detail,

but may be sufliciently understood for the purpose of this application upon noting that it consists of two rods, 71 and 7 2, of the same metal or metal having substantially the same co-eflicient of expansion under temperature change, the rod, 71, being slender relatively to the rod, 72, so that upon rapid rise of temperature in the vicinity of the device the slender rod is quickly heated through and elongated according to its thermal co-efficient, while during the same short time the heavier rod will not be heated to a suflicient portion of its cross section to experience any substantial elongation due to the temperature change. Means is provided to take advantage of the resulting movement of the free end of the slender rod relative to that of the heavier rod, for operating means for tripping the weighted lever, 70, as above described.

It will be understood that upon the operation of a thermostatic device such as shown, or of any other construction arranged for setting in operation means for opening the vent valve, the air pressure is first vented from the system and the escaping air will be followed by water at the vent port, as it would be at each of the discharge heads upon their being initially opened by the heat of fire in the apartment; and if the thermostaticallyc-aused operation of opening the vent valve is due to actual the in the apartment or is immediately followed by fire, the discharge of water following the air would be unobjectionable. But if the thermostatic action occurs when there is no fire to be extinguished in the vicinity of the vent and water discharge following, it is quite important that the damage, under such circumstances unnecessary, which would be caused by the water discharge, should be avoided; and in the construction shown this avoidance is accomplished by constructing the venting device with the chamber shown constituting the initial part of the conduit beyond the vent valve through which the pressure is vented upon the opening of the vent valve by the thermostat, this chamber being of suflicient size to contain water in suflicient quantity, and to sufficient depth to buoy a float, 80, of size adequate to operate the vent valve for closing it against the pressure of the water following the vented air, the outlet, 50 from this chamber being, as shown, at the upper part, so that before any water is delivered from the chamber, the chamber will be filled with water deep enough to operate the float for closing the valve, and the float being operatively connected with the valve, 53, as il lustrated.

The operating connection consists of a lever, 91, fulcrumed on the bracket, 55, at a point above the fulcrum of the lever, 54, and connected to and carrying the float at the extremity of the arm, 91, the other arm, 91, being pivotally connected to the valve-carrying lever, 54, intermediate the valve and the fulcrum of said lever, as by the short link, 54*.

Upon discovering that the thermostatic action opening the vent valve was not caused attests Byeetta fiie f; the aparfimeiimt wil be aesiredto shut oli'tlie water and drain the syswas: water and frset-tlie'iiiaifn lvalvlby a mating air prairie from the source of pres sate to'the air pressiii e region of the systi'xi, and draining the system; aii'dit isd'esi'i'abl to drain the float chamber reset the vent valve thermostat in the l'is'iai'i' 'e process. Butthe float chamber be drained in the sani'e'ihaiiner the remaiiid'rof'the systern, that 'is-, hy flow back through the Ys'ain passage by which the water inflow nectar-ea, beeause in the case of thefioat hamb'e'r', the inflow passage being controlled the vent valve is bloeka ea againstbackew by the valve being held ,s ated by the buoyant mien or are water which i i be dr ined, [The salve cannot be bplled until t e water s drained fr'oiii the chamber, the water cannot be drained iron; the the assages through which it entered until the valve is opened, Ao c 'oidiiigly, otheririeans ust be, provided for draining the float chars- 1 9i while the l 'ein aih d l of the system is beiiig drained. L a

I The means shown for thus draini'1ig tl1efio'at chamber consists in the provision of a pipe,

leading ir'oin eieinterseat 'chamber or themain valve as seen at 36 and connected to the neat chamber at the bottom thereof, as seen at 36 Figure 2 'the'eoiamunicatio n of said pipe withtlie teat chamher being widene by a valve, 37, carried by an @1154 of the lever, 54, 01" seating upwardly, that is, in the direction of the in flow, and therefore held seated by the lever, 54, when the valve, 53, is seated downwardlyby the other arm ofsaid lever when the float is buoyed the water following the air into the chamber. I Tliefvalv e,37, has its stem connectedwith the 1jevei-arm,]54 as seen in Figure 2, with freedom for movement relatively to said lever arm when the lever arm is swung down tothe'position at which the lever holds the valve, '53, ofit its the stem between the lever arm anda stop nut, 54, 'at the upper end of said stem p'e'rtake place past the valve, 87, which will accordingly be upheld at seated position by the float, 80. But when after the fire, or when it has been discovered that there isno fire,

and the Water supply is cut OE and the sys tem is drained in the usual manner, the pipe, 35, having free discharge through the interseat aliases, at main valve, of the, drain valve, *,11'5 open at that position for holding the valve, '53,closed, thespi -ing', 54, yielding to per it; suchopen ins, maths float chambe will be drained the fioa t lo'wefife'd regardless of the openihfioff t'h'e v'alve, 53'. z

i It has been found v ery es's'ential in a system ofthi's character having a vent valve fer venting the system pressure to provide against even the slightest air leakage at any such valve when the valve isorsh iild be closed, same such leakage i'sfiliable to" cause a While becoming thus deformed by pressure -on;the seat; and the resultin misfit of the a valve to the seat results in leal'za'ge' For this reason there is provided means for stressing thevalve, 53-, on its seat positively and with sufficient force to ensure complete sealing of the port, said means consisting of a. screw, set through the upper side or the float chamber impinging against the end portion of the spring bar, 9,b'eyondthe point or attachment ofthe upper toggle member, to said spring bar, ;And after the operatorh'as reset the valve by means of the diaphragm vstem as above described, he may operatethe screw, 65*,Qto stress the valve firmly to its seat, compensating any permanent compression and-deformation which the valve ina'y have experienced while previously seated.

'Upon considering the I drainage feature it willbe recognized thatthe fact that wlien the system is -set for fire protection 'vvith the main valve closed and held close-d bytheair pressure in thesystem beyond the main valve.

the interseatchamber is open for'ifif'ee drainage and atmospheric pressure, does" not render this connection a went for the air pressure of. the systeinfso asthe vent valve is closed by the. striit, 56,5,7'95116 that when the vent valve is opened with thermostat bucklingthe strut, the resulting venting of the air pressure, causing the main valve to be penecLeafises, at the same time,

the inc st-seer ch mber to be closed against nage and atmospheric pressure, eat-1 h mes rplyi re esi wateriwil-l be liable jm reach the that bli'a'ifiher a, [s the vent pipe, 52, and the nowb'p'ii vent with open the valve, 3'1, while the float is still valve, 53; and therefore the presence of the connection by the pipe, 35, will not prevent nor delay nor hasten the operation for venting andopening the main valve, nor furnish discharge for the water admitted to the system by the opening of the main valve. But when the water is shut off for draining the system, the interseat chamber being again opened for drainage and to atmospheric pressure, the pipe connection, 35, affords path for draining the float chamber, bypassing the closed vent valve, 53, and vent passage, 52, and permitting the float to fall and open the vent valve, 53, permitting the drainage also of the vent passage, 52. v

For the drain pipe, 35, the construction shown takes advantage of and utilizes the pipe shown in my Patent No; 1,689,980, as leadingto an alarm valve, and the continuation of the pipe indicated at 35, beyond theconnection with the vent and float chamber, 50, may be understood as leading to said alarm valve, as marked on Figure 1.

A most important purpose of the provision for venting and controlling the delivery of the vented fluid is to make it possible to utilize the pressure thus derived from the system for operating any fire preventive or protective devices in any part of the protected areas, as for example, opening normally closed water discharge heads, closing normally open fire doors to prevent spread of windows to prevent air draft which might fan the fire, etc.

Such purposes may be measurably accomplished by extending the pipe, to the different devices which may be operated by the fluid pressure passing the vent valve, 53, when opened by the thermostat.

I claim 1 1. In combination with a dry pipe sprinkler system having a vent passage for the air pressure of the system, said passage being extended for discharge separately from the water discharge heads of thesystem, and a valve controlling said vent passage, and a temperature-responsive device independent of the water discharge heads of the spinkler system. arranged to operate the vent valve for opening upon predetermined temperature conditions in the apartment protected, said temperature-responsive device being an ranged for so operating in advance of the operation of the discharge heads, means for preventing discharge of water following the air from the vent passage consisting of a chamber in the vent passage beyond the vent controlling valve, arranged to collect water passing sa1d valve when open for venting the air pressure; a float in said chamber, and

connections between the valve and float by which the float operates when buoyed by the water accumulated in the chamber to reseat the valve.

day of November, 1980.

2. The construction defined in claim 1, having the vent passage beyond the watercollecting chamber leading out from the upper part of said chamber, whereby the chamber becomes filled with water for buoying the float and closing the vent valve before any water can pass out of the chamber by way of the vent passage.

' 3. The construction defined in claim 1, the vent valve being normally-held closed, the construction for so holding it including a foldable strut arranged to be flexed at the connection of its folding members for shortening the effective length to release the valve for opening by the pressure to be vented, and means for so flexing the strut comprising a movable wall member of the chamber iniwhich the valve is located, having operating thrust connection with the strut for folding it when the movab e wall member is actuated from the exterior for providing such thrust, and said wall member being exposed for actuation by the temperature-responsive device the valve chamber being extended at the opposite side of the strut from the mowable wall member for accumulating water; a lever for carrying the vent valve independently of the struct connection therewith, the float being operatively connected with said lever for moving the latter in valve-seating direction by the rise of the float in the cham- 'ber due to the accumulation of water therein. fire to the apartments thus closed, closing 4. The constructon defined in claim 1, the dry pipe system comprising a main valve of the type having two seats for the main valve.

member with an interseat chamber provided with a drainway which is opened for drainage when the main valve is seated, the vent valve float chamber having a free flow connection from its bottom part with said interseat chamber, whereby said float chamber is automatically drained when the main valve is closed in resetting the system for service after its operation in which said float chamber has become occupied with water.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Hastings, Michigan, this 3rd EMIL TYDEN. 

